It wasn’t long ago when some of these artists were only known to some. When Gregory Porter frequented Harlem’s St. Nicks Pub, then to performing for a group of 30 to groups of thousands, to now receiving Grammy nominations for all of his latest releases. Same for future-soul Australian-based band Hiatus Kaiyote. They went from being virtually unknown in the States to Grammy-nominated in a very short period of time, mostly due to their 2011 independent release of Tawk Tomahawk (now on Sony’s imprint, Flying Buddha). And no one can seem to stop listening to, talking about, and re-posting the latest Snarky Puppy Family Dinner video that went viral, from a few thousand views to millions. These are the artists we’ve championed and the music we stand behind. See the complete list of of the 2014 Grammy nominees here.